[Lottie]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has attended his first campaign rally outside the capital, Kabul, just four days before landmark elections.

He flew to Ghazni, 100km south of Kabul to address a crowd of about 10,000.

Two other leading presidential candidates also held rallies - Yunus Qanuni in Kabul and General Abdul Rashid Dostum in Mazar-e-Sharif.

There was massive security for Mr Karzai - violence by the Taleban has hampered campaigning in many areas.

Mr Karzai's only other campaign foray outside the capital last month was abandoned when a rocket was fired at his helicopter.


Killing condemned

The BBC's Andrew North in Ghazni says a lively crowd holding colourful banners and portraits of Mr Karzai gathered to hear him speak on Tuesday.

He urged people to support him and help the country recover from decades of war.


"Brothers and sisters, I ask you to vote for me freely, with no pressure. We want a proud Afghanistan, a stable Afghanistan, a peaceful Afghanistan," he told the crowd.

His arrival was accompanied by massive security, with Apache attack helicopters and A-10 tank buster aircraft guarding the president's helicopter.


After the rally, the president mingled with the crowd to the discomfort of his US guards.



When I see this number of people, in their thousands, I'm delighted and I'm sure that I will win
Hamid Karzai


He shook hands with an old man, telling his guards: "Don't push him! Don't push him! This is democracy. This is emotion!"

One of Mr Karzai's leading rivals, Mr Qanuni, told 2,000 people at a Kabul football stadium the election would be a "transition from dictatorship to democracy and elected government".

He condemned the killing of one of his campaign organisers, Abdul Aziz, in Shindand, western Afghanistan.

Mr Qanuni also accused Mr Karzai of intimidating his supporters.
Mr Qanuni attacked Mr Karzai for intimidating supporters

"They threw our supporters into jails. We condemn this act and we ask the UN and the government to release those people who have been sent to jails for no reason but supporting us."

General Dostum's rally drew thousands in the northern town of Mazar-e-Sharif.

Crowds of men singing and chanting filled the city centre. Others packed into trucks, driving through town waving photos of General Dostum and shouting at bystanders to use their vote.

Our correspondent in Mazar, Monica Whitlock, says the general, an Uzbek, is very much a northern, not a national figure.

She says to lose here would be disastrous for his credibility but securing a sizeable vote would give him political credentials and perhaps a voice in the country as a whole.


Refugee voters


Campaigning ends on Wednesday, ahead of Saturday's election.
Thousands attended Dostum's rally in Mazar-e-Sharif
The registration of refugee voters in Iran and Pakistan is now complete.

A four-day drive in Pakistan ended on Monday with the organisers, the International Organisation for Migration, saying around 740,000 refugees there could now vote on Saturday. Up to 600,000 may vote in Iran.

"We are happy with the total," said Belquis Ahmadi, senior Afghan adviser to the IOM. "We are also happy that no major security incident happened."


Security in Afghanistan itself remains a massive concern in the run-up to the election.

On Tuesday, Afghan security forces raided a Taleban hideout in southern Oruzgan province, killing seven suspected insurgents in a three-hour gun battle, Afghan officials said.

Provincial chief of police, Matiullah Khan, said the insurgents had earlier attacked a police checkpoint about 40km from Tarin Kowt.

Five insurgents were arrested in the raid. There were no casualties in the Afghan forces, Mr Khan said.


Taleban violence and threats against candidates and voters have hampered the election campaign in many parts of the country, especially the south and east.

Twelve people were killed in election-related violence over the nine-month registration campaign. Hundreds have died in militant attacks in the last year.

Source

[Fluffybunny]

Wow, tough guy. To attend a rally where the odds are many people are armed and/or packing explosives takes some serious guts.

I hope he can keep the country in line, as it seems like it could turn ugly there very quickly.

[Talon]

Wow, tough guy. To attend a rally where the odds are many people are armed and/or packing explosives takes some serious guts.

Could be he was trying to make a point.

[Talon]

Explosion 'targets Karzai's ally'
An explosion in the northern Afghan city of Feyzabad was aimed at President Hamid Karzai's running mate, Afghan officials say.
At least one person died in the explosion. However, Mr Karzai's vice-presidential candidate, Ahmed Zia Massood, was not injured.

The incident came as Mr Karzai held his final rally in the capital, Kabul.

The poll on Saturday will be Afghanistan's first election for head of state.



Taleban vow


No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attack although the Taleban and al-Qaeda have vowed to disrupt the presidential elections.



The BBC's Crispin Thorold in Kabul says the province of Badakhshan, where the blast took place, is not an area where there has been much militant activity.


There is some confusion over the details of the attack.


Some reports said Mr Massood was travelling from the airport to a rally site when his convoy was struck, possibly by a mine or roadside bomb.

But interior ministry spokesman, Lutfullah Mashal said it took place at the rally itself in Feyzabad, the capital of Badakhshan, 300km north-east of Kabul.

He said there had so far been no arrests.


"The investigation is going on. It is the work of the enemies of peace and the elements who want to derail the election process," Mr Mashal said.


Mutaleb Beg, a local police official, told the Associated Press agency four people were hurt in the blast.

Reports said the former governor of the province, Sayed Ikramuddin, was one of those hurt.


Mr Massood is the brother of the late Ahmed Shah Massood, who led the battle against Soviet occupation.

Ahmed Zia Massood's running partner, President Hamid Karzai, held his final rally on Wednesday in front of thousands of supporters in Kabul's sports stadium.

Mr Karzai told them: "By voting you are laying the first bricks in a wall of democracy that will last for decades and centuries."

The Kabul rally was only the second public meeting Mr Karzai has held.

The first was on Tuesday when he flew by helicopter to Ghazni, 100km south of Kabul, to speak to about 10,000 people.

Festive atmosphere


Under Afghan electoral law, campaigning ends on Wednesday.



Around 6,000 people packed into Kabul's stadium - which was notorious under the Taleban regime for public executions.

Our correspondent, at the rally, says there was a festive atmosphere with men performing the national dance to the accompaniment of drums.

Supporters held banners saying "a vote for Hamid Karzai is a vote for democracy".

Mr Karzai said Afghans should cast their ballots freely, without pressure from anyone, including his own officials.

"We have 18 candidates and it is a source of pride that after three decades of war, interference, bloodshed and destruction... we proved that we are a noble nation."

Our correspondent says the campaign is drawing to a close just hours after it sprang into life.

For nearly four weeks the candidates' posters, pasted to walls across the country, were the only sign that a democratic ballot was imminent.

Although the other leading contenders, including the former education minister, Yunis Qanuni, and the Uzbek regional leader, Abdul Rashid Dostum, have been more active, this is an election that is likely to be won behind closed doors, our correspondent says.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.u...sia/3718926.stm

[Talon]

Karzai pledges new government style
Afghanistan's transitional president, Hamid Karzai, has pledged inclusive government if elected in polls this weekend.
In a forum for the BBC's Pashto and Persian services, Mr Karzai told listeners he wanted to get away from the coalition-style administration of the last three years which "had not got anywhere".

"I want to build a government which reflects the whole Afghan people," he said.

The forum was the latest in a series of interactive BBC debates on radio and online in recent weeks in which all 17 of Mr Karzai's opponents have appeared.

Question and answer sessions featuring prominent candidates such as Younis Qanuni, Rashid Dostum, Masooda Jalal and Mohammed Mohaqiq attracted thousands of responses from listeners and web users.

'Powerful nation'

Mr Karzai said that if people voted for him, his government "would have one clear policy".

"I want a government in which the participation of the whole nation is tangible."

He also told listeners that Afghanistan was becoming a "powerful nation" and said the country's many armed militias and warlords "should not take affairs into their own hands" and endanger the process.

"People respect them... but nobody should claim to be the commanders of mujahideen anymore," he said.

"Afghanistan should have a national army and a national police force and also national institutions who work in various social and political fields, but within the framework of the law."

"The feudalist system of government in every street of Afghanistan has been the cause of miseries for the Afghan people and the nation does not tolerate this sort of dominance."

Improving economy

Mr Karzai cited action against corruption and improving the country's economy as two of his key election concerns, although he acknowledged it would take years for changes to be implemented.

"Our currency is one of the most stable ones in the region but we have had problems with corruption and there are three reasons for that," he said.

"One is we have been run by a coalition government and connections overtook regulations - this is one of the reasons that I am against a similar structure for the future government of Afghanistan.

"Also, we started with a non-existent bureaucratic system and it takes a long time for a healthy one to be put in place," he added.

"Thirdly, in a short span of time a lot of money was poured into Afghanistan and it is natural that when an impoverished country becomes relatively rich in a short time corruption and fraud happens."

Women leadership

Mr Karzai said he was glad that all the presidential candidates had run clean campaigns.

"So far, the presidential candidates have not been too harsh to each other and I am very pleased about this," he said.


"In my view, here in Afghanistan each and every candidate has tried to look more nationalist than the next guy, which in effect has brought the people together more than before."
The BBC's Persian and Pashto services also spoke to other candidates in the Afghan elections.

Masooda Jalal, the only female candidate, took part in an discussion with young Afghans in Kabul.

She said there were many instances of women leadership in the Islamic world, and that Muslim scholars had told her that her candidacy did not contradict Islamic teachings.

Mohammad Mohaqeq, a leader of the minority Shia Hazaras, said he was running for president in order to serve his country in its reconstruction era.

He said if he did not win, he would co-operate with any elected government. He said promoting national understanding, co-operation and trust was essential if security was to improve.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.u...sia/3721230.stm

[AztecInca]

Lets hope that the campaigns go well and that the leader is elected fairly and legally!

[Talon]

Am I the only one who feels his non-coalition, more than 3 years style government sounds a lot like hinting at a long period of rule... such as 30 years?

More to the point, would anyone really care as long as he's pro-west and wipes out the Terrorists?

[Fluffybunny]

Am I the only one who feels his non-coalition, more than 3 years style government sounds a lot like hinting at a long period of rule... such as 30 years?

More to the point, would anyone really care as long as he's pro-west and wipes out the Terrorists?

That is what keeps getting us into trouble. We will support some relatively sane wackjob(on the sliding scale of middle eastern wackjobs) and help him get into power as long as he does what we want him to do. Sooner or later absolute power corrupts absolutely and you end up with a guy building 42 palaces(and a nice little army) while his own people starve.

[Talon]

That is what keeps getting us into trouble. We will support some relatively sane wackjob(on the sliding scale of middle eastern wackjobs) and help him get into power as long as he does what we want him to do. Sooner or later absolute power corrupts absolutely and you end up with a guy building 42 palaces(and a nice little army) while his own people starve.

Oh I'm not saying support a butcher. I mean look at Pol Pot, the US and UK loved him cause he killed Communists.... plus 2/3's of his population. An when Vietnam invaded Cambodia, while every sane individual on the planet when 'Thank god, for Vietnam', the US and UK were claiming it was an outrage to remove fascist dictators.

However, it seems Middle Eastern Islamic culture is prone to demanding all powerful leaders, and if they’re going to reject Democracy its better to have a pro-western leader than one of these clerics in. So long as they play by our rules i.e. not slaughter millions because they are leftwing… although that was western rules during the Cold War.

[Talon]

Kabul explosion on eve of polls
A loud explosion in the Afghan capital, Kabul on the eve of the country's presidential elections, was caused by a rocket attack, officials said.
There were no casualties in the blast, which happened in the embassy area of the city, a police chief said.

Afghanistan has been braced for attacks ahead of presidential elections, which take place on Saturday.

The Afghan government has said it is confident the vote will go ahead despite threats of violence.

The rocket attack, in the early hours of Friday, happened near the main headquarters of international peacekeepers, and within a few hundred metres of the US and German embassies, officials said.

In Washington a spokesman for the State Department said: "There was a rocket explosion 200 metres outside the embassy compound.

"There are no casualties in the embassy compound and all staff have returned to quarters."

Assassination attempt

The US-backed president, Hamid Karzai, faces 17 other candidates in the election, and is widely expected to win.

Mr Karzai's vice presidential running mate Ahmed Zia Massood survived an assassination attempt on Wednesday.

There are about 9,000 Nato troops in Afghanistan to help stabilise the country and provide security for the election.

More than 18,000 US-led troops are still in Afghanistan, battling rebels in the south of the country, thought to be linked to the Taliban regime ousted by the American-led invasion in 2001.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.u...sia/3725228.stm

[Talon]

Afghan torture trial due to begin
The trial of an Afghan man charged with torture and kidnapping in his homeland is due to begin at the Old Bailey.
Zardad Faryadi Sarwar, 42, denies charges of conspiring to torture and to take hostages between 1991 and 1996.

Human rights campaign group Redress says it is the first time a case will go to trial under section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act.

Section 134 allows Britain to try alleged torturers regardless of where the crime is alleged to have occurred.

It was adopted in 1988 in line with the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

Redress described the use of the law as "a step in the right direction".

'Extremely rare'

Zardad Sarwar - also known as Zardad Khan - moved to Britain in 1998 and was running a pizza restaurant in south London when he was arrested in July 2003.

Attorney General Lord Goldsmith is set to open his trial.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman earlier in the week said it was "extremely rare" for the Attorney General to open a criminal case.

"It's an indication of the unique nature of the case. We understand it's the first prosecution of its kind in this country," he added.

The judge, Mr Justice Treacy, told the jurors it would be a "somewhat unusual" case.

"Many of the witnesses will be giving evidence by video link from Afghanistan and possibly from Pakistan," he said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.u.../uk/3725422.stm

[Talon]

Afghans set for historic election
Afghans begin voting shortly to choose their president in what is the country's first mass democratic poll.
The favourite is the interim President, Hamid Karzai, who has led the country since the fall of the hard-line Islamic Taleban nearly three years ago.

The Taleban has vowed to disrupt the polls, in which more than 10 million names have been registered to vote.

More than 100,000 Afghan and international security personnel have been put on high alert for the poll.


Many Afghans hope the election will bring an end to the rule of the gun, provide national unity and encourage the flow of further international aid.

Voting in Afghanistan itself begins at 0700 local time (0230 GMT).

Afghans refugees in neighbouring Pakistan can cast their votes from 0200 GMT.

'Optimistic'

Security has been the leading concern in the run-up to the election, seriously curtailing campaigning, which ended on Wednesday.


However, a spokesman for the Nato-led peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, Commander Ken MacKillop said: "Everyone is optimistic that the election will carry forth.

"We have been working very closely with the Afghan police and army to make sure the security environment... is as safe as possible."


Eighteen candidates are standing for president, and votes will be cast at about 25,000 polling stations in 5,000 locations across the country.
Some 740,000 Afghan refugees in camps in Pakistan are expected to vote, as well as another 600,000 in Iran.

In addition to high security, human rights groups have warned that voters may be intimidated.

There will be few independent observers at polling stations.

Voting is scheduled to finish at 1600 local time (1130GMT) in Afghanistan.

Ballot boxes will then be sealed and transported to eight regional counting centres.

In this mountainous country, some will have to be taken by helicopter.

Initial results are expected in the coming days but it may take a couple of weeks for all the votes to be counted.


Interim President Hamid Karzai is widely tipped to win, although Uzbek General Abdul Rashid Dostum and Tajik former education minister Yunus Qanuni have fought high-profile campaigns.


Correspondents say it is unclear how much impact the election will have on Afghanistan's future.


Much will depend on how the country's various power brokers react to the result and how far the victor is prepared to challenge the political status quo in a country that is sometimes described as a series of mini-fiefdoms.

Jalalabad arrests


On Friday officials in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar said they had intercepted a tanker carrying 40,000 litres of fuel and packed with explosives.


If detonated, they say it could have killed hundreds of people.


Afghan troops blocked the road leading from Kandahar to the border town of Spin Boldak after the truck was found to have explosives packed in its tyres.


"It is obvious that their main goal was to detonate the truck in Kandahar city," an Afghan army commander said.

Three Pakistanis were arrested, the Nato spokesman said.

Khalid Pashtun, a spokesman for the provincial Kandahar government, said the Taleban had attacked Afghan troops in Kandahar's district of Khakrez district, on Thursday.

Three insurgents were killed and six wounded, he said.


In another incident, in southern Helmand province, four soldiers died and four were hurt when Afghan troops and militiamen loyal to the government mistakenly engaged in an hour-long gun battle on Thursday.


Early on Friday, a rocket also landed close to the main headquarters of international peacekeepers in Kabul.

Mr Karzai's vice-presidential running mate Ahmed Zia Massood survived an assassination attempt on Wednesday.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.u...sia/3727324.stm